PRP For Plantar Fasciitis In Sarasota and Tampa Bay area Runners

Do you feel pain near your heel, especially when you get out of bed in the morning? Plantar fasciitis, an inflammation of the plantar fascia, the ligament running from the heel bone (calcaneus) towards the toes, is the common and uncomfortable result of overuse, an increase in activity, excess weight, age, or degenerative changes in the foot. It can lead to knee issues for runners.

Is your plantar fasciitis interfering with your running goals or more athletic social activities? Have you been rolling a can or special roller back and forth under your foot to no avail? Are you finding that you can’t sleep comfortably with your toe strapped towards your shin in some contraption aimed at relieving plantar fasciitis? Dr. Bennett, an orthopedic surgeon, has been on the cutting edge of regenerative medicine including platelet rich plasma (“PRP”) and adult stem cells to heal these formerly tough-to-heal conditions, like plantar fasciitis, for years.

The reason you see a proliferation of day splints, night splints, boots, socks, and straps at the drug store, athletic shoe store, the Sky Mall catalogue, et cetera, is because in their lifetime, 10 percent of the U.S. population experiences the annoying, distracting pain of plantar fasciitis. Two million American suffer from plantar fasciitis each year. Runners with over-pronation or who have flat feet, as well as those of us who participate in weight bearing exercise, are particularly prone to this common, but recalcitrant condition. In non-athletic types, body weight can be a major contributing factor. As if the discomfort and disruption to all the activities you love was not enough, there is more bad news: the current standard treatment is stretching, which can take SEVERAL MONTHS-and sometimes a year- to alleviate the condition. Surgery is a last resort, with risks including failure to improve the condition, infection, damage to the arch, and other undesirable changes in the structure of the foot. Physical therapy can be expensive even with insurance due to the number of visits and copays, not to mention the time away from work. Steroid injections may be helpful, but there is a newer, powerful healing prospect: high concentrations of your own innate blood cells to heal the micro-tears in the plantar fascia.

Dr. Bennett treats plantar fasciitis in his office using PRP, your own platelet rich plasma. Insurance typically covers an initial consult, which confirms whether or not plantar fasciitis is indeed the cause of the pain you feel. If an exam confirms plantar fasciitis, PRP treatment may be a good option for you. If so, the procedure is performed in Dr. Bennett’s office. A phlebotomist draws a small quantity of your blood in the office. Dr. Bennett then creates customized PRP- a unique concentration of platelets- with or without white blood cells, with or without stem cells, depending on the injury or tissue targeted for accelerated healing. Using the most appropriate of the three different machines he owns which create different forms of PRP, Dr. Bennett “spins” the blood in a patented special container. The resulting product is then injected into the site of injury. Dr. Bennett’s ultrasound equipment allows him to position a fine needle within a millimeter of the site of injury, assuring that the PRP is directed to the exact area of injury. Relief may be felt within a day or within 2 weeks. Some of Dr. Bennett’s patients play sports like tennis the very next day and can feel a difference.

Dr. Bennett has been working with adult stem cells and PRP for many years and has experienced a very positive success rate with his plantar fasciitis patients. PRP typically costs about $1,000 per injection. Most of Dr. Bennett’s patients experience significant relief and improvement after one injection. The majority of his patients do two injections on average. While some people can afford to wait several months and keep rolling a roller back and forth, stretching, or manage to sleep in awkward boots or straps, many more active people who are ready to get on with their lives come to Sarasota from Venice, St. Petersburg, Tampa, Riverview, Brandon, North Port, Port Charlotte, Clearwater, and Bradenton to benefit from this quicker, powerful treatment which augments the body’s natural capacity to heal. For more information on PRP and the scientific journal articles supporting its effectiveness, click the links below. To schedule a consultation with Dr. Bennett to evaluate your pain and whether you are a good candidate for this procedure, call (941) 404-2703 or click the appointment request link above. Submit Form.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2861637/
http://www.aaos.org/news/acadnews/2012/AAOS15_2_8.asp

PRP Pricing

Please be aware the PRP Procedure price DOES NOT include the office visit or the ultrasound. Most insurance companies do NOT typically pay for PRP procedures. We will bill your insurance company for the office visit (99213 or 99214) and the ultrasound (76681). If your insurance should apply any amount of those charges to patient responsibility (copay, coinsurance, deductible, etc.) then you will be responsible for those charges. The price of the PRP covers the cost of the PRP kits, Centrifuge, processing, Local Anesthesia, Phlebotomist and the actual procedure of injecting the Platelet Rich Plasma.